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Speakers credit Vivian with building AVID in San Bernardino County; scholarship awards announced
Summary
During public comments, three speakers credited Vivian with launching and expanding AVID locally and described a scholarship program that will award roughly two dozen $1,500 grants to students in 2025.
Speakers during the meeting’s public comment period credited Vivian with starting and expanding the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program in San Bernardino County and described a community-run scholarship that will support students in 2025.
Commenter 1, who said she later served as a superintendent in Colton, said Vivian began local AVID work in 1991 and “took the program from its beginning to become the model program in the county, and become a state demonstration program.” Commenter 2, who identified herself as a longtime teacher at Colton High School, described bringing AVID to the campus after observing the program during a WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) visit and said students who once planned no college attendance later went on to enroll after the program’s start. Commenter 3 emphasized Vivian’s ongoing volunteer work after retirement and noted partnerships with outside funders.
The speakers said AVID is now present in elementary, middle and most high schools across San Bernardino County and credited Vivian’s “passion for equality in education” for that spread. Commenter 1 said school leadership and a supportive counseling office were crucial when she first implemented AVID at Colton High School, and she named Rick DeSeneur as the principal who supported the effort.
The presenters described a scholarship program run in partnership with the Inland Empire Community Foundation. Commenter 1 said she and a colleague, identified only as Cheryl, chose to support AVID after retirement. According to the speakers, students for the 2025 scholarship cohort have been selected and the program will award about 25–28 scholarships at $1,500 each; the speakers characterized that total as “beyond anything that I thought we were gonna achieve.”
Speakers repeatedly emphasized the long-term outcomes they associate with AVID: graduates who went on to college and returned to the region or built successful careers elsewhere. One speaker said, “There isn't a day that I did not enjoy going to work because to me it wasn't a job. It was a calling.”
No formal action, vote or policy change was recorded on this item during the meeting; the remarks occurred during public comment and served as commendation and program update.
